Weekend report
Sun, Dec. 18th, 2005 11:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterSadly, it is the last market of the year. I won't be able to go again for two whole weeks!
I managed to drag myself out of bed at the early hour of eleven (ehm, yes, am very much a night owl) and walk all the way over, hoping against hope that it wouldn't rain. I kept getting sprinkled on, but I couldn't tell if it was the wind blowing water from the trees, or actual drizzle.
It was actual drizzle. The good thing about this was that there was still plenty to pick over at the market -- usually by eleven, things are looking a bit scanty. And there were much fewer people, so I didn't even have to wait in line for bread! I tried to get enough for the three whole weeks the groceries would have to last, but I was a little limited by how much I can cook in a week and how much I could carry. Actually, the carrying capacity was more the concern. However, this didn't stop me from buying 6 pounds of satsumas! They'll probably be gone by Friday...
I like satsumas ^_^.
I also got more Fujis (sadly, I discovered my love of Jonagolds about one week before the apple guy ran out), scallions, dill, English cucumbers, salmon spread, and green onion bread. I was actually going to get the skinny Chinese cucumbers (I'm going to attempt![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
coffeeandink's yogurt sauce and bring it to the work potluck with pitas on Friday), but the English ones were too cute and knobbly to resist!
I'm so excited!! I got piroshkies! The pasty/pie people's store closed down, thanks to Palo Alto (grrrrr), so I've been looking for a good lunch/snack replacement for the Cornish pasties. I miss my pasties. I miss my pies. *sniffles* Last time I tried someone's quiche, but it was too flat and I didn't like the crust, and it wasn't that lovely, cheesey, custardy soft texture that I really like about quiches. Also, the crust really didn't taste good. But this week, I saw the piroshky stand! I think they had other things as well, but I don't remember at all because I was too distracted by the piroshkies. I got one beef one and one potato and onion one (for dinner on Tues.), and I had the beef one for lunch.
It's not quite the same as a pasty, because the outside is bready and poofy instead of being a sort of pastry crust, but when heated, it's incredibly soft and chewy. And the beef filling is nicely spiced and seasoned. I was very, very happy.
It wasn't so happy dragging home everything (6 lbs. of satsumas plus lots of other stuff) in the rain =(.
I was in a pretty bad mood all day too. It rained all of yesterday, but that was ok because I stayed at home and cooked polenta and watched Omoide Poro Poro (Only Yesterday) and scritched rats and knit. I did venture out into the rain, but for a yarn expedition and a Borders run (manfully resisted temptation and didn't get anything, but did read vols. 16-18 of KareKano). Today I had to walk home in the stuff, which wasn't so fun, although satsumas and farmer's market was worth it.
Then I was off to the Nutcracker, which was ok but not stunning. Actually, it could have been, but I'm not sure, because as stated, I was crabby. Also, I hate driving in downtown San Jose. Also also, the theater design is incredibly stupid! There are only two aisles through the entire thing (one per side), and so, the rows are about 50 seats long or something. You have to climb over 25 people to get to your seat. Ugh. And since it was a matinee, everyone brought their kids, so there was much talking, as well as a wailing baby.
I feel rather bad complaining about this, given that it was probably a special occasion for most people (I had lots of fun looking at all the kids dressed up in nice clothes), but I was just grumpy. And... I've never actually seen the Nutcracker as a ballet before, so I probably shouldn't be complaining, but I dunno. It felt like something was missing. Then, I was going to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond after to get more stuff for holiday baking, but ended up being so tired that I just drove home.
I ended up going right after anyway, mostly because I had to go back to the car to get my umbrella because it was pouring, and decided what the hell, just go. I would like to note, by the way, that 9x9 pans are really hard to find. Argh. So again, I spent too much money and got more cooking equipment (whisk, 9x9 pan, 9x13 pan) but couldn't find a silicone spatula (I, er, sort of melted my current spatula....). Maybe they were hiding. Maybe I will make my mom go with me to a fancy kitchen porn store and I will get myself happy colorful spatulas. Also! I got the coolest things ever! They are color-coded flexible cutting boards! I love them! I can cut things up on them and carry them over to my pan easily! And there are four of them (red for meat, yellow for poultry, green for veggies, blue for seafood) so now I can avoid important things like salmonella! So cool!
I also splurged and got myself a knitting magazing, haha! The patterns actually aren't that great, but it has a nifty article on short rows. Well, the patterns could be good, but I hate seaming, so I need to figure out a way to convert patterns so that I can knit them in the round, or just as one, really large flat piece for cardigans. Am now apologizing to Elizabeth Zimmermann for being grouchy at her book and going back to research. But I was still grumpy from the rain and the wet and the grey skies and the crowds.
And then, I went to the best coffee place ever and had their dark chocolate mocha, which is wonderfully smooth and doesn't have the often grainy texture of most mochas and topped with whipped cream. Also, did I mention the dark chocolate? And their coffee is just so tasty and dark and rich to begin with! So I sat in a comfy bowl chair and read my knitting magazine and sipped my mocha and ate my quiche lorraine (complete with eggy, custardy, cheesy center and tasty crust) and felt much, much more human afterward.
Off to home to cook then. I made ma po tofu (I feel bad about not making Chinese food, now that I'm cooking), bok choy (I'm almost getting it right! The secret lies within the cornstarch!), and two types of scones. I am also now out of lemon curd, but I forgot to get lemons in my three runs to Safeway the past two days. Argh.
The non-corn scones turned out ok, but they have proper scone texture! They are tasty and fluffy though... but not scone-like. Also, I tried the quince preserves in the pantry (sorryfannishly! I shall buy you more jam or something else if you want), but they're too sweet. I need a good jam brand. Well, either that, or I keep getting cherry preserves.
I'm also trying to figure out what to cook for my parents for Christmas! I feel like I should cook more Chinese food too. Except... I only have one Chinese food cookbook, because I keep paging through cookbooks and they all don't seem Chinese enough or something. I don't know. I also really wish I had a Good Eats for Chinese food, so I could understand how Chinese ingredients work. Le sigh. I will just have to grill my mom when she comes. I think I'll also try to cook more non-Western food because my stomach, while well fed, is getting a little unhappy with the sudden prevalence of dairy in everything... must find good recipes for palak paneer and pad thai and ... well, pretty much everything I like to eat. Imagine the possibilities!
I managed to drag myself out of bed at the early hour of eleven (ehm, yes, am very much a night owl) and walk all the way over, hoping against hope that it wouldn't rain. I kept getting sprinkled on, but I couldn't tell if it was the wind blowing water from the trees, or actual drizzle.
It was actual drizzle. The good thing about this was that there was still plenty to pick over at the market -- usually by eleven, things are looking a bit scanty. And there were much fewer people, so I didn't even have to wait in line for bread! I tried to get enough for the three whole weeks the groceries would have to last, but I was a little limited by how much I can cook in a week and how much I could carry. Actually, the carrying capacity was more the concern. However, this didn't stop me from buying 6 pounds of satsumas! They'll probably be gone by Friday...
I like satsumas ^_^.
I also got more Fujis (sadly, I discovered my love of Jonagolds about one week before the apple guy ran out), scallions, dill, English cucumbers, salmon spread, and green onion bread. I was actually going to get the skinny Chinese cucumbers (I'm going to attempt
coffeeandink's yogurt sauce and bring it to the work potluck with pitas on Friday), but the English ones were too cute and knobbly to resist! I'm so excited!! I got piroshkies! The pasty/pie people's store closed down, thanks to Palo Alto (grrrrr), so I've been looking for a good lunch/snack replacement for the Cornish pasties. I miss my pasties. I miss my pies. *sniffles* Last time I tried someone's quiche, but it was too flat and I didn't like the crust, and it wasn't that lovely, cheesey, custardy soft texture that I really like about quiches. Also, the crust really didn't taste good. But this week, I saw the piroshky stand! I think they had other things as well, but I don't remember at all because I was too distracted by the piroshkies. I got one beef one and one potato and onion one (for dinner on Tues.), and I had the beef one for lunch.
It's not quite the same as a pasty, because the outside is bready and poofy instead of being a sort of pastry crust, but when heated, it's incredibly soft and chewy. And the beef filling is nicely spiced and seasoned. I was very, very happy.
It wasn't so happy dragging home everything (6 lbs. of satsumas plus lots of other stuff) in the rain =(.
I was in a pretty bad mood all day too. It rained all of yesterday, but that was ok because I stayed at home and cooked polenta and watched Omoide Poro Poro (Only Yesterday) and scritched rats and knit. I did venture out into the rain, but for a yarn expedition and a Borders run (manfully resisted temptation and didn't get anything, but did read vols. 16-18 of KareKano). Today I had to walk home in the stuff, which wasn't so fun, although satsumas and farmer's market was worth it.
Then I was off to the Nutcracker, which was ok but not stunning. Actually, it could have been, but I'm not sure, because as stated, I was crabby. Also, I hate driving in downtown San Jose. Also also, the theater design is incredibly stupid! There are only two aisles through the entire thing (one per side), and so, the rows are about 50 seats long or something. You have to climb over 25 people to get to your seat. Ugh. And since it was a matinee, everyone brought their kids, so there was much talking, as well as a wailing baby.
I feel rather bad complaining about this, given that it was probably a special occasion for most people (I had lots of fun looking at all the kids dressed up in nice clothes), but I was just grumpy. And... I've never actually seen the Nutcracker as a ballet before, so I probably shouldn't be complaining, but I dunno. It felt like something was missing. Then, I was going to go to Bed, Bath and Beyond after to get more stuff for holiday baking, but ended up being so tired that I just drove home.
I ended up going right after anyway, mostly because I had to go back to the car to get my umbrella because it was pouring, and decided what the hell, just go. I would like to note, by the way, that 9x9 pans are really hard to find. Argh. So again, I spent too much money and got more cooking equipment (whisk, 9x9 pan, 9x13 pan) but couldn't find a silicone spatula (I, er, sort of melted my current spatula....). Maybe they were hiding. Maybe I will make my mom go with me to a fancy kitchen porn store and I will get myself happy colorful spatulas. Also! I got the coolest things ever! They are color-coded flexible cutting boards! I love them! I can cut things up on them and carry them over to my pan easily! And there are four of them (red for meat, yellow for poultry, green for veggies, blue for seafood) so now I can avoid important things like salmonella! So cool!
I also splurged and got myself a knitting magazing, haha! The patterns actually aren't that great, but it has a nifty article on short rows. Well, the patterns could be good, but I hate seaming, so I need to figure out a way to convert patterns so that I can knit them in the round, or just as one, really large flat piece for cardigans. Am now apologizing to Elizabeth Zimmermann for being grouchy at her book and going back to research. But I was still grumpy from the rain and the wet and the grey skies and the crowds.
And then, I went to the best coffee place ever and had their dark chocolate mocha, which is wonderfully smooth and doesn't have the often grainy texture of most mochas and topped with whipped cream. Also, did I mention the dark chocolate? And their coffee is just so tasty and dark and rich to begin with! So I sat in a comfy bowl chair and read my knitting magazine and sipped my mocha and ate my quiche lorraine (complete with eggy, custardy, cheesy center and tasty crust) and felt much, much more human afterward.
Off to home to cook then. I made ma po tofu (I feel bad about not making Chinese food, now that I'm cooking), bok choy (I'm almost getting it right! The secret lies within the cornstarch!), and two types of scones. I am also now out of lemon curd, but I forgot to get lemons in my three runs to Safeway the past two days. Argh.
The non-corn scones turned out ok, but they have proper scone texture! They are tasty and fluffy though... but not scone-like. Also, I tried the quince preserves in the pantry (sorry
fannishly! I shall buy you more jam or something else if you want), but they're too sweet. I need a good jam brand. Well, either that, or I keep getting cherry preserves. I'm also trying to figure out what to cook for my parents for Christmas! I feel like I should cook more Chinese food too. Except... I only have one Chinese food cookbook, because I keep paging through cookbooks and they all don't seem Chinese enough or something. I don't know. I also really wish I had a Good Eats for Chinese food, so I could understand how Chinese ingredients work. Le sigh. I will just have to grill my mom when she comes. I think I'll also try to cook more non-Western food because my stomach, while well fed, is getting a little unhappy with the sudden prevalence of dairy in everything... must find good recipes for palak paneer and pad thai and ... well, pretty much everything I like to eat. Imagine the possibilities!
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(no subject)
Mon, Dec. 19th, 2005 12:21 pm (UTC)Sometimes we would go to the market twice, once on Saturday in Sunnyvale and once on Sunday in Mountain View. Hee!
Re: converting flat patterns for knitting in the round, I would recommend using a relatively simple garment for your first forays into this. Something that's just stockinette or garter with relatively little shaping, preferably one that says "shape front as you did the back." In these cases I find that knitting in the round actually helps me because then both sides are shaped at the same time so I don't have to try to replicate what I did. Eliminate the first and last stitches of each row which should be there just for seaming purposes. For instance, if you had to cast on 98 stitches for the front and 102 for the back, I would cast on 96 stitches, place a marker, cast on 100, then join to begin my round. You just need to remember which is front and which is back which I sometimes do with different colored markers. Then knit merrily along to the armholes. At this point you'll want to employ a second ball of yarn so you can knit the front and back in the flat at the same time (you can keep them on the same needle, just switch balls of yarn). This time include the first and last stitches of the row because you will need to sew on the sleeves. The brilliant thing about knitting bottom up in the round is that you can then use a three-needles bind-off to join the shoulder seams!
For the sleeves cast on as you would, again sans the first and last stitches, but then join to form a round. Knit as you did the body, switching to knitting flat at the sleeve cap shaping. Now all you have to do is set the sleeves lining up where the underarm seams would be (leaving the markers in at those points is handy) and the top of the sleeve-cap with the shoulder seams. Or you can knit the sleeves in the flat on the same needle to again match up your shaping exactly.
Elizabeth Zimmerman is good for really simple kimono shaped sweaters knit in one piece or raglan sweaters. If you really want to get into knitting things seamlessly, I highly recommend Barbara Walker's "Knitting from the Top." I love that book!
(no subject)
Tue, Dec. 20th, 2005 12:28 am (UTC)Btw, is there anyway to not even have to seam the sleeves? Aka, I saw in Zimmermann that you can graft the undersides on at least....?
Why yes, I am so lazy that I would rather do Kitchener stitch than seam!! Hee.
And thanks for the book rec!
Yay, I have a personal knitting guru!!
(no subject)
Tue, Dec. 20th, 2005 12:49 pm (UTC)I don't know of a way of grafting set-in sleeves though Barbara Walker has methods for picking up and knitting on set-in sleeves in top-down sweaters.
(no subject)
Tue, Dec. 20th, 2005 07:51 pm (UTC)I must check out Barbara Walker now! Thank you!